


Omit No Opporunity

by princetteofcats



Category: Romeo And Juliet - All Media Types, Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare, SHAKESPEARE William - Works, Shakespeare - Fandom
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Modern Shakespeare, New Year's Eve, New Years, bartender!mercutio, slightly drunk kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 01:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5607829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princetteofcats/pseuds/princetteofcats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’m, uh… I’m excited,” Romeo stumbles, suddenly and acutely aware of the way his cheeks are burning. The bartender seems amused.</p><p>“Oh? What for?” he asks, as if the reverie around him is completely nonexistent. Romeo bursts with laughter and leans against the counter to steady himself. He looks up at the other’s face and can feel just how stupid his own smile is but he can’t stop it.</p><p>“Nothing special, I guess. I’m just excited in general. For, y’know… opportunities and shit.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Omit No Opporunity

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it would be fun to make the first thing I write this year be about... well, starting a new year! I like to think that in at least one lifetime or another, this is how Mercutio and Romeo meet. It's mostly just fluff because of that. Regardless, I hope you all like it, and happy New Year!

Romeo isn’t entirely sure what music is playing; it’s too loud to actually hear. All he knows is that the bass is heavy in his chest and the plentiful alcohol in his system only makes those vibrations more stimulating. He feels shook up and ready to burst, much like the champagne bottle in the hands of that cackling redhead behind the bar.

The aforementioned redhead is the bartender, and he’s been a riot the whole evening. He can mix drinks and crack jokes and steal Romeo’s breath away all at the same time. His hands are deft and elegant, and Romeo can’t help but wonder if they’re as skilled at unbuttoning as they are at uncorking. He can’t remember anything about the face of the woman he’d been invited by, the one he’d been so hung up on these past two months. It’s all been replaced by blue eyes and red hair and that laugh that’s far more intoxicating than anything listed on the chalkboard behind the countertop.

Twenty minutes before the ball drops, Romeo becomes aware that he, too, has been eclipsed. His date is ringing in the New Year early, locked on to the lips of a beautiful blonde in a blue velvet gown. While this would normally leave him full of gloom and despair for weeks on end, tonight is different, and he hardly has a reaction at all. He can’t muster the energy to care when he is buzzing with tequila and determination.

He marches up to the bar with ferocity in his eyes and he’s entirely sure that he’s going to make the smoothest and most seductive move ever put into practice until he catches the bartender’s eyes and all he can manage is a sloppy smile and, “Uh… Hey.”

He gets a grin and a wave in return and the redhead leans against the counter, his arms bare against the laminate and his sleeves folded up to the elbow. The top two buttons of his shirt are undone and his collar is slightly askew. “Hey, yourself,” he laughs. He winks and Romeo feels his chest lurch.

“I’m, uh… I’m excited,” Romeo stumbles, suddenly and acutely aware of the way his cheeks are burning. The bartender seems amused.

“Oh? What for?” he asks, as if the reverie around him is completely nonexistent. Romeo bursts with laughter and leans against the counter to steady himself. He looks up at the other’s face and can feel just how stupid his own smile is but he can’t stop it.

“Nothing special, I guess. I’m just excited in general. For, y’know… opportunities and shit.”

The bartender laughs and Romeo feels like he’s accomplished something Olympian. He smiles wider and he puffs out his chest a little. The bartender pushes his hair away from his face and Romeo is almost entirely certain that his eyes sparkle when they open again.

“Yeah, it must be good to look forward to them if you’ve got ‘em.”

“I dunno about that,” Romeo replies, tracing lazy circles on the countertop and smiling up at the guy, “I don’t have any, I don’t think. I’m looking for some, though. Excited to find some, maybe. You know?”

The bartender smiles at him with a sudden knowingness, and Romeo feels his heart in his ears. He leans forward, as if he’s going to say something compelling and beautiful. Instead, he murmurs, “No. I don’t. I don’t know.”

He’s so close and he smells like cinnamon and whiskey and Romeo feels very young and very small and very, very warm. The bartender smiles again and laughs. He reaches out and gently pokes the center of Romeo’s forehead with one long, thin finger. His voice is less melancholy, now. Kinder. “What’s your name, anyway? You can’t come over here and say that kind of stuff and not even tell me your name.”

“I’m Romeo,” he responds much too quickly, much to eager, even after such a startling shift in character. The bartender perks at the earnestness, and his grin is once again almost manic in its energy and warmth.

“Romeo. Alright, then. I’m Mercutio, Romeo, and I think we can both use another drink.”

Romeo smiles so wide it hurts his cheeks and Mercutio laughs as he reaches below the counter. He pulls out a bottle and three glasses and pours something bubbly and golden sweet into two of them. He hands both to Romeo with a wink and nods at the countdown clock near the front of the room, which reveals that there’s barely two minutes of the year left.

“Better go find your date,” Mercutio says, his voice half a question.

“I don’t have one,” Romeo blurts out, stumbling over his words. His tongue feels thick, even as he continues, “I mean. I do. Did. I mean, I had one, but then, uh, it uh... it didn’t work out.”

“Oh?” Mercutio quirks an eyebrow. He slips the third, empty cup under the counter in one quick, seamless motion. He draws one of the full glasses up by the rim, his fingers long and his smile crooked, “Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“Not really,” Romeo murmurs, almost too quiet, nearly drowned out by the music and the growing chant as the party-goers begin the countdown. One minute left.

“You don’t think so? It doesn’t sound like the best way to ring in the New Year or whatever,” Mercutio quips, swirling his glass as he makes a vague motion with his hand.

“Well, I mean… I think I found something better. Someone,” Romeo corrects himself hastily. His face feels way too hot and Mercutio’s look is so even that is makes him self-conscious.

“You think so?” Mercutio is leaning towards him, just a fraction of an inch. He’s smiling and Romeo can’t help but mirror him. Thirty seconds.

“Yeah.”

“God, you’re weird,” Mercutio laughs. He leans closer.

“You’re amazing,” Romeo leans in, as well.

Fifteen seconds.

“You don’t even know me.”

“I’d like to.”

The crowd is roaring and the numbers sound indistinct and distant. Romeo is holding his breath and Mercutio is looking at him with eyes that look both full of heat and cold as ice. His smile is sharp but not threatening.

“Maybe that’s not a bad idea.”

Three. Two. One.

Romeo isn’t entirely sure who actually initiates the kiss but he doesn’t really care, either. He may have knocked over one of the glasses but all he can focus on is the way Mercutio’s lips are warm and sweet and bubble with laughter. Mercutio grabs the back of his neck and Romeo cups one of his cheeks. The kiss is sloppy and deep and tastes like tequila and chapstick. When they pull apart, they still linger in one another’s spheres, and Romeo realizes that when he knocked the glass over, it spilled all over Mercutio’s shirt and pants.

“Oh, fuck, goddammit, I-I’m so sorry-”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Mercutio laughs, reaching over and touching Romeo’s cheek. His grin is wicked, “You wanna help me change?”

It takes Romeo a moment to process the implications of that invitation but once he understands his eyes light up like it’s Christmas and Mercutio laughs and leans in for another kiss. It’s deep and a little hard and when he pulls back he jumps up on the counter and slides across in one quick motion. He grabs Romeo’s hand with a wink and gives a surprisingly gentle tug.

“C’mon, then. You don’t want to waste the opportunity, do you?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”


End file.
